Thursday, October 09, 2008

The wonder of hats

I have no socks on the needles at the moment. I know, it's amazing. This week I have discovered the wonder of hats.

The seven wonders of hats

1. You get to buy yarn because you are sure you have no red DK yarn in your stash. You only need one skein (like socks, but cheaper).
This is new RYC Extra Fine Merino, rather like the old Jaeger yarn. This is very soft, and machine washable and less splitty that DB Baby Cashmerino. I may have found a new "blanket" yarn.

2. Hats are portable, especially if they are for small people. So you can knit them on the bus/tram/train. Perfect commuter knitting.
3. Ruth writes some fabulous patterns.4. You can re size them a little to make them fit a whole array of small people that you know.
5. They are a really quick knit
6. You get to go back to the yarn shop to buy another skein of yarn just in case.
7. (The best one) They don't come as a pair so you only have to knit ONE!

Pattern:Waltzer from Wee Woolly Toppers by Woolly Wormhead
Size: LargeYarn: RYC Extra Fine Merino in Blood - 1 ball with about 10m left over.
Needles: 4mm
Started: 4th October
Finished: 8th October
Comments: I made the large size on 4mm needles rather than 3.5mm in the hope it will fit a "soon to be" two year old. It is plenty big enough, and this design is so stretchy that I wonder if it will be too large (especially as I can nearly get it on my head!)
The yarn is wonderful, really soft but seems quite hard wearing at the same time and it blocks like a dream. The label claims it can be washed at 40 degrees - I haven't tested that yet. Oh and the colours are fab too.
I found a small mistake in the pattern. I messaged Ruth on Ravelry to make sure I wasn't going mad. She responded within about 10 minutes and had fixed the pattern within a couple of hours. Absolutely fantastic customer service. I know she was gutted to find a mistake, but I am extremely impressed with her response.
Let's just hope Hattie is as pleased with her birthday hat (well I couldn't really knit anything else could I?)

So, what to do next? Cast on another hat that's what with the extra ball of RYC EFM I bought just in case. Cubba this time, in the smallest size, for one of the new arrivals. Three baby girls have been born to three different friends in the last 2 weeks! They all need hats - it's getting cold.
I cast on for this hat on the bus to work this morning and am about 3/4 of the way through after about 2-3 hours knitting in total today. This is product knitting to the max!

I think everyone is getting hats for Christmas. Socks are so last season!

However this:

and this

arrived in the post yesterday.
BeautiFuL - Blue Faced Leicester superwash sock yarn from Natalie at The Yarn Yard.
The first one is the first installment of the solid socks club and the photo above definitely does NOT do it justice. It is a reddy brown colour overdyed with teal. In some lights it looks brown with a teal haze, in others it looks like a dark reddy/purple. Truly amazing. Like one of those weird iridescent paint sprays you see on cars. It is set to become a pair of Chalet Socks. I just can't get the pattern out of my head.
The second one is colourway 396. Oranges, greens and yellows. Halloween yarn if ever I saw it! I can't wait to see how it knits up. That is if I can get away from hats.

and I love your yarn too. My YY solid was waiting for me at work. I have only looked at it in the office, under strip lighting, and it looks quite coral. I can't wait to see it under different lights, the range of colours shown in photos is astounding!